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Craftsman Door Trim Tutorial

When we first bought our home, just over a year ago, I was immediately drawn to all of it’s potential – possibilities for an open floor plan, one floor living, and enough outdated finishes to go around. One thing we’ve really enjoyed bringing into the home is character. Things like crown molding, solid-core craftsman doors, beadboard in the bathroom, and built-ins galore. I love ranch style homes, but that doesn’t mean we can’t infuse a few other styles as well. My all-time favorite upgrade we’ve made, that isn’t so “typical ranch”, is craftsman-inspired door trim. I say inspired because we’re definitely not experts, and who knows if we’re doing anything by the books here, but we really love the look and hope you guys can gain some inspiration from it too!

I’m almost positive that the only time I’ve shown our door trim here on the blog was while featuring our new front door. Which is a shame. Seriously. It’s beautiful, and I’m a little perplexed at what’s taken me so long to write this post.

So, since we’re in the midst of remodeling the laundry room, which just so happens to have FOUR doors, I thought it’d be a good time to share the whole process in action! It’s crazzy easy.

First up, a look at the wood selection. (twss)

We used three different sizes to frame out the entire door, as illustrated above. Rather than try to describe where each piece was used and probably lose everyone in the process, I’ll just show pics. It’s not rocket science 😉

Ricky did most all of the work here, and after a little trial and error, he found it easiest to start by assembly the two side pieces.

And instead of following up with the top portion directly to the wall, he built it independently first. A nail gun got the job done here.

And he was left with this.

Slap that guy up at the top of your door frame anddd voila! Instant character.

Easy enough?

Obviously, we still have painting to do here, which we’re holding off on until all the trim work is done, but you guys get the picture. I love all these finishing touches. The end is in sight!

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43 thoughts on “Craftsman Door Trim Tutorial”

Love it! I was trying to go with the headers in my home but by the time I put up crown, it was too much and not enough paint showing! PS- Where did you get your living room light!? Its exactly what I want and the one I found at Lowes is being discontinued

This is so great! I now know what those are called–since we have them all over our house! All of our doors have them, and I think they are original (our house was built in 1935). There is visible chipped paint under the current coat, so I am pretty sure they’re old. Thanks for educating me on that design element that we already have!

Love this Jessie! It’s so simple it’s almost frustrating that I haven’t done this to all my doors! Haha! Question- what about trim (or baseboards… whatever they are supposed to be called!!).. does that match the thickness of the craftsman door trim? Is it as simple as the doors are? Are you going to put a tutorial up on that? I’m still working on my bedroom for the mood board you made me! Can’t wait to show you when it’s done! Painting is taking me the longest with all the trim and vaulted ceilings!

We haven’t installed baseboards just yet, but we’re planning to do something simple as well. We’ll definitely post more details about it as we go Can’t wait to the see your bedroom! Still one of my favorite mood boards to date!

Perfect timing! I decided to start with my bedroom and rip out my 47 year old trim last weekend while painting and came to the sudden realization that I had no idea how to recreate the craftsman look I wanted (and admired from your home). Thank you so much for this simple tutorial!

Hi Jessie, I recently started following your blog and I’m glad I did. Your home is such an inspiration. My home was also built in the 50’s. Our first home was built in the 20s and I always liked the craftsman style trim but I wasn’t sure if it would go in my home now. Seeing it in your home made me realize I can. Thanks for the great tutorial.

I just love your blog! Question…what will you be doing for the baseboard and molding trim? will you do something similar in craftsman style? I’m wanting to do the same thing and would love to see what you are doing next (so I can copy it of course- ha)!

What do you do about trimming out that door that’s too close to the adjacent wall to allow for casing? Pictured to the left of the door being worked on… I have the same problem and can’t figure out how to make it look finished!

Hello- Thank you for the helpful tutorial. I am wondering for the 3/4″ x 2″ and 1/2″ x 2″ trim pieces- are those sizes referring to the actual dimensions or nominal dimensions? I am having a hard time finding flat trim in those exact sizes. Thank you!

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